DEEPER LIFE BIBLE CHURCH WORLDWIDE.
TUESDAY'S LEADERS' DEVELOPMENT
DATE: 23/06/2020.
MESSAGE ANCHORED BY THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT.
TOPIC: THE RECOVERY OF OUR FIRST LOVE IN THESE LAST DAYS.
REVELATION 2:1-7,11; 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-2,4-50
I welcome you to our Leaders' Development session, and I pray, the Lord will develop you, the Lord will move you forward, and grants you progress in every area of the ministry IN Jesus Name Amen. Once again, I welcome you, and I pray that as we look at the word of God today, that it will benefit you, it will enrich your life, it will enrich your ministry, and it will enrich your understanding IN Jesus Name Amen.
As we look at the word of God together, and what we are looking at today is very familiar to you, the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church is sending a message to the church in Ephesus, although He said unto the church, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus "write"; these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. And at the end of verse 7, He said, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Christ said, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
The Lord is saying, He's sending the message to His minister who have left his first love, and if you look at verse one, He's talking about the minister, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; He's referring to the labour, He's referring to the service of the minister, and He said, all the churches should pay attention, all the churches should read this, all the churches should learn from this, and all the churches should get what He's saying, he that has ear to hear, let him listen. Here the Lord is taking to the human leader, He's talking to the individual, He's talking to the shepherd in the church of Ephesus, and He says, I know thy works, I know that you have tried, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: you see this pastor here in the church of Ephesus that JESUS Christ was referring to was doing the right thing that he ought to do, and He says, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. He says, nevertheless, you're still active in the ministry and labouring, nevertheless, you're still rendering service to Me, nevertheless, he's still active to the church, and he's doing the work to be done nevertheless, you're involved in the great commission, "go ye into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature", and He said, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. You see what the Lord is telling us, you see what He's telling the minister of this church, the pastor of the church of Ephesus had labour, he had perseverance, he had watchfulness, the minister of the church in Ephesus had endurance, he had sacrificial service, he was well committed, he had good commitment, he had good continual commitment, he had consecration, and he had courage as well. But nevertheless, he lacked the first LOVE, and the Lord Jesus Christ was saying, it will be necessary to recover that first love, otherwise the Candle sticks of that church will be removed. You know the people that talk on the conditional love, they had the idea that JESUS Christ love us unconditionally, that is no condition at all, He just loves us and then He tells us we should Love people unconditionally, that whether they are right or wrong, just leave them to what they are doing, love them unconditionally, whether they are upright or they are backsliding, don't worry about that, love them unconditionally because according to the word of God, God loves us unconditionally, that rarely Jesus said, I have somewhat against you, nevertheless, I have somewhat against you, nevertheless, you have left your first love, you have not love me unconditionally, and you're not continues in the first love. And now He's telling them to remember therefore from whence they art fallen, and they should repent, and do the first works; or else Jesus said He will come unto them quickly, and will remove their candlestick out of his place, except they repent.
Jesus Christ also predicted what will be happening in the church nearing the end of the world, He said, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; He gives the attitude and the characteristics of those who will be lovers of themselves, and then He says, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, He tells us the evidence of lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
What is the evidence of lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God?
✔they will be lovers of their confidence.
✔ they will be lovers of their comfort.
✔they will be lovers of their flesh.
✔ they will be lovers of luxury.
✔ they will be lovers of material things more than lovers of God.
And the Lord is saying We shouldn't be like that, you see when somebody is lover of the pleasure more than the loving God, he's left his first love and the Lord says, in the last days, these are the things that will happen.
And the Lord says, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Come to think of this now,
⏩ Jesus Christ was talking as a husband will talk to the wife.
⏩Jesus Christ was talking as the bridegroom will talk to the bride.
⏩Jesus Christ was talking as the head of the church will talk to the body.
And as He says they have left their first love, they have lost the first love thy have,
How do we know that somebody, a minister, a preacher, a pastor, an overseer has lost the first love?
➡ when there's kind of activities without affection, this church at Ephesus had activities, the minister there had activities, they abandoned their love for Christ, and when there's activities, but there's no affection, we have lost the first love.
➡ when there's route, and there's no Righteousness, and routely we do what we normally do, and we go on like that, and yes righteousness is not there, that means that we have lost the first love
➡ when we love the gift of God and then we abandoned the giver, Christ is the giver,
√ He gives us salvation,
√ He gives us healing
√ He gives us miracle.
√ He gives us a lot of things. And when our hearts concentrate on the gifts, and we abandoned the Giver, and then when the gift is not coming as it ought to come, then we have some misgifting, and when we concentrate on the gifts that He gives us, and we do not concentrate on the Giver, we are losing our first love.
➡ you know sometimes, in the marriage, you find that the wife concentrate on the children and love the children, and the love for husband is decreasing because of the love for the children, and when we love the fruits, and we love members of the church and we love the children that we have brought to the Kingdom more than we love Christ, and we are now concentrating on this, that means we are leaving our first love.
➡ you know, there are times we think about our Happiness, and the Lord is thinking about Holiness, that we should follow peace with all men and Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, but we are abandoning Holiness, we are getting away and going away from Holiness, and Happiness has covered Holiness, when Happiness takes the place of Holiness, we are loosing our first love, and the Lord is saying, we need to come back and we need to get back to the first love.
➡ you know sometimes, the husband has traveled to a far away country, and from there he says he's coming back, and a week gone, he has not come back, one month, he has not come back, one year, he has not come back, and then the wife here is paying attention to other things, and she's trying to find substitute for that husband, and when that takes place, the husband will say, his wife is not loving like she use to, exactly what Jesus Christ is saying, He's gone to Heaven and He says, He's coming back, a year, He has not come back, and is like now the church, is like now the Christians, is like now the ministers are loosing the focus on the head of the church, and He's not having the affection and the love that he ought to have for the far away husband is no longer there, and by the way the husband comes back, if JESUS comes back, should He find the love, faith, and affection in the people He left behind?
You know when you love somebody, if he writes to you in the email, you read the email immediately, because when at the beginning when you got married, that love was there, and the affection was there, and when your husband wrote to you, you picked it immediately and you abandoned every other things, and then you read it and you read it over and over again, that is the first love, and when that wife loose the first love, when the husband write to her email, she looks at it and she didn't have the affection to read the message, and now other things are more important. The same thing with us today , when the word of God that Christ has sent to us in the mail, like mail, and when that is not number one anyone and when other things are taking preeminence, and other things have taken priority and we love other things more than the word He has sent to us, that's He is saying, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
⏭ These is the last days, when people are lovers of themselves,
⏭ these is the last days, when people are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God,
⏭ these is the last days, when alot of things are happening that can divert our attention, and that can distracts our attention.
⏭ these is the last days, and we need to recover our first love unto the Lord.
POINT ONE : THE RECOLLECTION OF THE FIRST LOVE OF THE BRIDE.
REVELATION 2:4-5; JEREMIAH 2:1-3; MALACHI 2:5-9.
Christ want us to recollect, and to recall, and to bring that first love back to our mind, remember the first love,
å remember that first affection from which you have fallen.
å remember that first interest you had in the Lord from which you have fallen.
å remember your enthusiasm of the path from which you have fallen, and then repent. If you don't remember, if you don't recall, if you don't recollect how you use to love the Lord, and what the Lord expected in the past, if you cannot recall that, how are you going to then turn around and repent, and do the first work? He said, repent and do the first work.
Have you noticed that after JESUS Christ went to heaven, His word has not changed, His message, "repent" has not changed, His message, "except thou repent" has not changed. You come to the first pages of the gospel, and you find there, "Repent", and then you come to the Acts of the Apostles, "Repent ", you come to Romans and all through to all epistles, "Repent", you come to revelation now, "Except thou repent", the Lord says, He remember the love at the beginning when you first love Him, when you first connected with Him, when you first converted, and when you first gave yourself to Him,and He says you should recall and recollect that first love back. He told the children of Israel to recall how they came out of Egypt, and they followed Him, those initial times, the love in their hearts at that time, the song they sung at that time, and now He says, Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD. That's when the first love was there, Israel Holy unto the Lord, the Lord is recollecting, the Lord is recalling, the Lord is remembering the Love they used to have, the first love and the first affection that they had for the Lord at the time when Israel first knew the Lord, when the first love was there, and God says, Israel is my wife, and He's the Husband, and their Creator, He says at that time, when they first love, the love of truth was is his mouth, iniquity was not found in his lips, but the love is no more there, because they didn't continued in that first love, they didn't established their goal and their commitment on that first love, those that abandoned their first love, they became selective in the word of God, they became partial in the Lord, that is the evidence of leaving the first love.
I. FIRST LOVE EXPRESSED FIRST FAITH.
1 Timothy 5:12; Galatians 5:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 1:3.
You see, when we have the first love, and when you demonstrate the first love, you will express the first Faith. But you see, when you abandoned the first love, when you quit the first love, when you leave the first love, what happenes, the first Faith is gone, your first confidence in Christ that's gone, your first reliance on Christ, that's gone, your first Faith in Christ, that's gone, it's that, the expression of that first love will be in the first Faith, and then that shows we rarely Love Him.
II. FIRST LOVE ESTABLISHED FRESH FELLOWSHIP.
ACTS 2:43; PHILLIPIANS 2:1-5; 1 JOHN 1:5-7.
You see, when we come to the Lord, we wants to be in fellowship with the Lord, and in fellowship with the People of God. The people that received the gospel through the Apostles, they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. There was no debate, there was no argument, there was no distortion, there was no disagreements, those people came to the Lord and they were converted, and they came to the Lord with all their hearts, and with all their minds, and then the apostles were teaching them the doctrine of the word of God, and they were having fellowship and breaking of bread, and in prayers, that's what happens when the first love is there. When that first love is there, they don't have to push us, they don't have to pull us, and they don't have to drives us and draw us, and they don't have to compels us before we come, they don't have to follow us up, you know when the first love is there, you will just want to be in the fellowship of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and in the fellowship of the people of God, when the first love is there, there will be Fresh fellowship everytime.
III. FIRST LOVE ABANDONED FORMER FALSEHOOD.
EPHESIANS 4:15,22; 1 PETER 1:14-16,22.
In a true marriage, husband and wife they come together, and before they knew the will of God to each other, maybe the woman has some friends, but now all those former friends are abandoned, maybe the man has some friends, but now as he's joining his wife in holy wedding matrimony, all the former friends are abandoned. If there's any attachments and remembrance of the former friends, there's no true love there, if the heart of the woman is still going to her former friends, there's no true love there, but you see, when you have the first love, the first love abandoned former friends and former falsehood. And when the heart is not distracted and scattered here and there, that is true Love we ought to have for Christ.
IV. FIRST LOVE EMBRACED FEEDING THE FLOCK.
JOHN 21:15-17; ACTS 20:28.
If you rarely have the love of Christ in your heart like as the first time, like the earlier time, when you first became a pastor, when you first became a preacher, when you first became a minister, you want to feed the people of God, you love it, is the best time in your life, and you're excited about it, you will read your Bible, you will search your Bible, you will pray about it you will be deep in prayer, but when that first love is gone, you just scratch the surface of the Bible and then you go to give the people something cold, something in the fridge that is not warmed up, and the people don't rarely appreciated, they don't enjoy what you're giving, but when the first love is there, it will embrace the feeding of the flock. If we rarely Love the Lord, and the first love is there, feeding the flock of God will be the first priority of our lives, it will be the greatest employment that we have, and it will be the Joy of our heart to feed the flock, if you're going to feed the people of God, you must have the first love. Let's bring that to the family, you know, as a woman in the family, she must be neat and appear clean, and before she serve his family, she have to maintain a good personal hygiene, she have to sanitize her hands and keep clean of herself, she must maintain her self, her bodily appearance and her clothes should be clean, her hair style should be clean, and while she's cooking in the kitchen, if she doesn't take heed, and she is just talk and talk and talk, and saliva is mixing with the food, that woman is not taking heed of herself, the same thing as we are serving the people of God, we must take heed. Look at the flock, and when there's first love, that's what you will do, you will feed them as Christ has commanded. Let's just take this as an example, you have young people and children at home, you will want to give them balance diet that will nourish their body and aid rapid growth, you will serve them food that will nourish their body and quicken their brains, you will serve them food that will give them good complexion and to preserve them and give them immunity. The same thing in the living church of God, if you have the first love for Christ, then you're going to feed the flock of God and then you will take heed to yourself.
V. FIRST LOVE HATED FILTHY FLESH.
EPHESIANS 5:1-5; 2 CORINTHIANS 7:1.
The first love to the Saviour, the first love to the Master will hate filthy flesh, the language of your mouth, the look of your eyes, and your presentation and your standing and everything you do, you will walk in love, your behaviour, your character will walk in love as Christ also has loved us. If you claim you're saved, you must be free from fornication, and let us see that you're free from all forms of uncleanness in your thoughts, in your plan, in your dressings, in your exposure and in your lifestyle, let us see if from the life you live. No adultery, no fornication and no unclean person or covetous has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
VI. FIRST LOVE CONTINUED IN THE FAITH FERVENTLY.
ACTS 14:23; COLOSIANS 1:8,23.
Fervent love means you love in the spirit, and not in the flesh, and not on the tongue, and not in pretence love, you love deep in the spirit, and that love is express if you continue in the Faith, grounded and settled and be not move away from the hope of the gospel.
VII. FIRST LOVE EXALTED THE FAITHFUL FIRSTBEGOTTEN.
REVELATION 1:5; MATTHEW 10:37-38.
Christ is the First Begotten, and He's the Faithful First Begotten, and We must allow love to exalt Him, we must allow love to elevate Him, and our love will put all the interest on Him. He wants us to love Him with all our Heart and with all our mind, that's what He wants us to recollect.
POINT TWO: THE REBUKE FOR FERVENT LABOUR WITHOUT THE BEATITUDE.
REVELATION 2:4
You see the beatitude in Matthew chapter 5, verse 3 all through to verse 12. Actually, Christ shows us what the beatitude is, and He's telling us the beatitude we ought to have, the mind we ought to have, the heart we ought to have, and the disposition we ought to have, and the affection we ought to have, the love we ought to have, and the way we demonstrate with our relationship with Christ, our conversion to Christ, the way we demonstrate our lives in the gospel of the Lord JESUS Christ, that is the beatitude. When we relegate the beatitude to the background and we do not think about the beatitude anymore, but we keep on labouring and we are fervent in labour, Christ says, He doesn't appreciate that, and He has rebuke for fervent labour without the Beatitude. If you look at the Beatitude, JESUS Christ was telling the church at Ephesus that He know their works, and He know their labour He know their service, He Know their perseverance, He know their patience, but they have left their first love, the beatitude was not there, and Here we have the beatitude in Matthew chapter 5, can you think of labouring for God with concentration in the Spirit and without lowliness in the heart and without any confession? We are not just to keep on exhorting, and keep on reaching Search the Scriptures, and keep on ministering, and keep on singing, and keep on interceding, and yet there's no poverty of the Spirit, and there's no contradiction of spirit, and there's no sorrow for sin, when sin has taken place, and you're fervent in labouring without the sorrow for sin and without the beatitude, you are just wasting your time. But when you're fervent, when backsliding has taken place you ought to mourn, when you're convicted by the word of God, when you're convicted by what we study together, and your Heart is not there, and the Lord says, your heart is absence and your heart is away from the Lord, and when you're convicted like that, you mourn, you cry before the Lord and is like something is lost, and you ask for forgiveness, that's fervent labour the Lord is saying, the first love is not there when there's no conviction, and the person that goes on sacrificing and just labouring without conviction, duty without heart devotion unto the Lord is nothing!
As we are labouring for God, the beatitude we ought to have is meekness, We must be meek, the meek are lowly, they are humble, when there's no humility anymore in our service, when there's pride in our service, when there's brashness in our service, and when there suppression in our service, and we just move on like a conqueror, instead of feeding the church, we are conquering the church. When the beatitude is missing, and there's no meekness, and there's no lowliness, and there's no meekness, we cannot keep on in service, the Lord wants us to bring in the beatitude into our ministry.
We must be hunger and thirst after righteousness, it's not just seeking for higher position, seeking for higher privilege, seeking for higher duty, seeking for higher responsibility, or seeking for higher service and you want to monopolize the ministry that other people cannot take part in, no we shouldn't do that, we hunger not for position and we thirst not for position we we thirst and hunger for righteousness.
We are not like the village head master, or old head master that will wear his short sleeves, while shirt and with his short Nike and then he carry stick around, and he say he must beat somebody today, he must make somebody cry today, that's not the ministry, that's not the preacher we are not to oppress anyone, if we are doing the work of God, you will have mercy and you will have the gentleness of the Lord, Christ wants us to gentle in all the labour and in all the ministry.
Maybe you're counseling, and we don't lock ourselves up in counseling, even for security purpose, as a woman, men will come for counseling, and it's not right for you to just lockup yourself with a man you're counseling, that's not labouring for the Lord, your flesh is getting the better part of you, the same thing with the men, if you're counseling as a pastor, and then the door is a glass door, and the security and the ushers can see through everything happening there, you keep your heart pure, when you're counseling you keep your heart pure, when you're ministering anywhere, you keep your heart Pure, He says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. How will you see God, you will see God by reading your Bible, you will see God by praying, you will see God in Christian's experience, if you're not pure in heart, you will not see God. The beatitude must go along with our ministry.
He says, blessed are the peacemaker, not the trouble makers, not the people who are knocking heads together, He says, if we are ministering and we are labouring for the praise of peace, we must take the beatitude along with us while we are ministering.
What is the Lord rebuke us for?
I FERVENT LABOUR WITHOUT THE FIRST LOVE.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-3; PHILLIPIANS 1"15-17.
if you can explain all the details of rapture, if you can explain all the details of great tribulation, if you cam explain all the details of personality of the Antichrist, if you can explain all the things and you can explain the time table of the end time, if you can explain all the difficulty passages that relate to end time, but if you don't have charity, if you don't have First love, you're nothing, there are people who are not loyal to there own spouse, they are not loyal to their ministry, and then they keep on labouring, is like they have turned their conscience away from them, and they have threw their consecration away.
✔️ the Lord rebukes the minister who have labour without loyalty.
✔️ there are people who also labour without Listening, they never listen to the Lord, and they keep on labouring, before they preach, they are not listening to God, labour without listening will not do anything at all.
✔️ there are those people labour without learning, the Lord is saying that we shouldn't labour like that.
✔️ there are people who labour without the Light, and they are labouring without enlightenment that the Lord gives us, when the Holy Ghost comes he throws light on the word, he enlightens us and we mustn't labour without the light of the word.
✔️ other people labour without Submitting to the Lordship of Christ, they do not have any Lord over them, they do not have any Lord over their authority, and the Lord is saying, worship should not continue like that, and labour cannot continue like that, serving the Lord cannot continue like that, we must not labour without leaving the past, God condemned such labour.
II. FAULTY LIBERTY WITH FROWARD LIFESTYLE.
GALATIANS 5:13-16; 1 PETER 2:15-16; 2 PETER 2:19-20; 1 CORINTHIANS 7:39,9
The lifestyle is froward, dirty and not fitting the qualifications of leadership, the Lord says we shouldn't allow anything like that, there must not be any faulty liberty.
Maybe there is a pastor that says he has liberty, he's at liberty with women, he's at liberty with money, he has the church account, he has the private account, and he he says he can do anything with the church account that is private, that's not love for God, he's a person claiming liberty for a froward. But the Lord wants us to serve Him in Love, and so that by love we are serving, He wants us to manifest liberty that goes along with Holiness, He wants us to manifests liberty that goes along with righteousness and sanctification life.
What is Liberty in a Christian sense?
✔️ it's freedom sin.
✔️it's is freedom from evil,
✔️it is freedom from iniquity.
✔️ it's freedom to do well, and not freedom to do evil.
✔️When we come to know Saviour, you escape the pollution of the world and sin,
✔️when you're cleanse, you escape the pollution of the world and sin
✔️ when you're washed, you escape the pollution of the world and sin
✔️ when you're purged, you escape the pollution of the world and sin.
✔️ when you're purified, you escape the pollution of the world, and sin .
✔️when you're saved, you escape the pollution of sin.
✔️ when you're sanctified you escape the pollution of sin. And all those defilement of sin, you're totally separated from them. You're righteous, you're Holy, and you're pure. After you're saved, after you're sanctified, and you backslide, and you fall into sin, you're robed into that defilement and you're now overcome by defilement, and by that pollution of sin and you are immerse into that defilement, your last end is worst than the beginning. The Lord is telling us that we must not have faulty liberty with froward lifestyle.
Maybe after the husband or the wife is dead, you're at liberty to be married, he's the one that has the responsibility to pray, to know who he will marry, just make sure the Lord is leading you, the widows have the liberty to be married, but there are some widows that refused to get married, but they are burning on the inside, they are not living right, they have froward lifestyle, they have questionable lifestyle, they have questionable behaviour with men privately, and yet the liberty is there to marry, but they refused because they are thinking about what the overseer will say, and they allow what overseer and human being will say to send them to hell fire. There are men who are widowers, they lost their wives, and they are at liberty to be married, but they say they are serving God and they don't have time to remarried, and yet secretly they are having lust, secretly they are living a defeated life while they have the liberty to be married to another wife.
III. FRONTLINE LEADERSHIP WITHOUT FIRST-RATE LOYALTY.
GALATIANS 2:11-14; ACTS 10:13-15.
Peter the Apostle, the front line leadership, he didn't have the first rate loyalty because he was acting in fear, and Paul the Apostle rebuked him because of the front line leadership without first Rate loyalty, there are pastors and overseers today who are acting under fear, and that's what the Lord is rebuking, He rebukes fervent labour without first love, He wants us to recommit ourselves, He wants us to recommit our lives and to recommit everything we got to the work of God, but with the first love.
POINT THREE: OUR RECOMMITMENT TO FIRST-CLASS LOVE FOR THE BRIDEGROOM.
We are committed before, we need to recommit ourselves again, we are consecrated before, we need to rededicate ourselves again, He's the
REVELATION 2:4-5; JOHN 21:15-17; 1 PETER 1:8.
Bridegroom,
✔️He's the Husband of the church, and we are the wife.
✔️ He's the head, and we are the body,
✔️ He's the Saviour, and we are the Saved. ✔️ He's the Master, and we are the Disciples. And we recommit ourselves to love, not just ordinary love, not just superficial love, it's a deep love, what the Lord Himself will appreciate is first class love that there's no comparison with it, it's total, entire, and it's deep and biblical, and it's spiritual love, and it's deep, complete, entire love. We recommit ourselves to first class love for the Bridegroom. We are recommitting ourselves, we are recommitting our lives, when the Lord speak to us, we need to reexamine our service, we need to reexamine our labour in the light of the revelation of the word of God, and we need to recalls and we need to accept the rebuke, and we need to recommit ourselves, never mind who is affected, never mind who is not affected, He says, we should remember our first fervency, our first faithfulness, our first earnestly contend for the Faith.
You know Peter, the first love he had, when Christ called him, and immediately he left everything and he followed Jesus, while Jesus was walking on the sea, he also walked on the sea, he wanted to be like Christ, and even when JESUS said He's sorrowful unto death, and Jesus said, one of them will betray Him, Peter said, if anybody betray Him, he will die with Christ, even when the Lord said, he can't, he had the fervency of that love, and he had the zeal and when they came to take the Lord Jesus Christ, he drew out his sword and he cut off the ear of the servant of the highpriest. And after Jesus Christ rose from the dead, after He appeared unto him, this is the man, that Jesus said, "Lovest thou Me more than anything"? That's what the Lord says, we need to recommit ourselves unto that first class love.
I. FOREVER LOVE FOR THE BRIDEGROOM.
SONGS OF SOLOMON 6:6-7; 1 PETER 1:8; JOHN 21:15; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-15; ROMANS 8:35-39.
Like Aaron was the one that went with Moses to Pharaoh, and Aaron threw down the rod of his hand, and it became serpent, and he picked it up again fearlessly, this Aaron faced pharaoh and Moses and Aaron always be together, he was the person that rarely love the Lord and then they came out of the land of Egypt, and Moses went to the mountain top and before Moses went back, the people said unto Aaron to make them gods they will serve since Moses is not coming out on time, and then Aaron made calf for them because he had left his first love.
Do you remember Miriam? She was the one that stood by the river side when Moses was placed at the side shore of sea, and when the daughter of Pharaoh came to bath in the river, and she saw Moses, Miriam was the one that said, can I go and look for a nurse for the baby? This was that same Miriam that latter gossiped Moses, and when she was talking with Aaron, they gossiped Moses because they have left their first love. The Lord is saying, look at your past life, and look at the first love you have like Aaron and like Miriam, and like Peter, and then you need to recollect and then recommit yourself to that first love for the Bridegroom. The Lord is asking, do you today that, do you have that first love that you can give up a lucrative Job for the service of the Lord? The Lord is saying you today, Lovest thou Me more than market? Lovest thou me more than money? You know at the time of Bible study or any of the weekly services, it's at that time that you have customers and the market is opening, now the Lord is asking, do you love Him more than market? Do you love Him more than material things you acquired? Do you love Him more than marriage? Do you love Him more than your husband, more than your wife and more than your family? That is what the Lord is asking, do you love Him more than you love mansions? Do you love Him more than mother and your father? Do you love Him even more than yourself? The Lord wants us to recollect and take the rebuke and accept the rebuke, He wants us to come back to the place we ought to stand, you were not there physically when He came to His Own disciples, and by many infallible proofs He shew Himself to the disciples, that is the kind of fervent Love He wants us to have for the Bridegroom.
II. FERVENT LOVE FOR HIS BRETHREN.
1 PETER 1:22-23; HEBREWS 2:10-12; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-10; 1 JOHN 3:14-18.
You must Love the church of the living God, you must love the people of God, and if you Love them so much, you must show them the truth, show them the gospel, declare the truth unto them without fear and without feeble, we must purify our souls, we must purify our heart, that is the foundation. If we are going to call other people to obey the Lord, but if there's disobedience to the word of God, there's no how we can call other people to obedience, if we are not submissive to the word of God, how can we call other people to submission? If we have not given ourselves fully, completely without reservation to the word of God, and the will of God, how can we call on other people to consecrate and give themselves without reservation to the Lord and to His will? All our actions will be base on on, it will base on that Calvary love, and we love with a pure heart, we love fervently, we love the word of God, we love the teaching and then declaration of the word of God, that love is not temporary, all that He commanded, all that He has given us to do is not temporary, He wants us to love brethren because of the word of God, and because of the fellowship with the Lord, and because of giving ourselves fully to the Lord from a pure heart, we love fervently, in our ministry, we cooperate with Christ, and we have the same desire with Christ, we have the same passion with Christ, we have the same zeal with Christ, we have the same faithfulness with Christ to bringing the children of God unto Glory.
✔️without Holiness there will be no Glory. ✔️without Righteousness there will be no Glory.
✔️ without purity there will be no Glory.
✔️ without transparency there will be no Glory
✔️ without having the cleansing that the blood of Jesus Christ done there will be no Glory. He wants to bring many sons to Glory, and as we minister, we manifest that fervent Love, that righteous Love and that redeeming Love.
III. THE FOREMOST LOVE FOR THE BOOK.
JOSHUA 1:8-9; ISAIAH 34:16; ACTS 17:11-12; LUKE 10:38-42. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-15; ROMANS 8:35-39
We have the Love for the book of God, as well, we cannot retain the first love without having the foremost love for the book, He wants us to have the book of God in our mouth, in our heart and He wants us to preach it and to proclaim it. As we are ministering, as we are preaching, and as we are doing the work of God, we don't leave the Bible behind, and keep on ministering, and keep on running, we must labour with the word of God, we take the book, we have the book and then courageously we declare the word of God through and through, the complete book that is given unto us by inspiration, if we don't read, how do we preach it? If we don't read it, how do we declare it to other people? If we don't read it, how do we interpret it to other people? If you don't read and study, and how will you understand what it means, and when you read it and study it, then you're able to expand and explain and apply it to the people. He wants us to be Searching the book and looking the book, He wants us to be committed to the word that our love for God, our love for the congregation, our love for the spiritual Welfare of the people will grow. As we received the word, as we are learning, as we are listening, as we are taking in the word, we receive the word with all readiness of minds, and we search the Scriptures, we expand the scriptures, we compare scriptures with scriptures, we search the scriptures and we love, we search the scriptures and we learn, and we search the scriptures daily, whether those things were so, it is that, that will produce in our serving the Lord, in our ministry to the Lord, and in our preparation for the Lord. We need to also concentrate on His word, concentrating on the word, learning the word, receiving the word, and wanting everything that the word personified, the living word should be in our mouth, and in our minds, that is what a minister preach, we give ourselves to reading and studying the word of God, the Lord is telling us to recommit ourselves to the first class love, the bridegroom is coming soon, and He wants to meet us in that first class love.
What Kind of love He wants us to manifest?
✔️ it's the love that continues.
✔️ it's the love that is deep.
✔️ it's the love that is fervent.
✔️ it's the love that is firing.
✔️ it's the love that last forever.
✔️ it's the love that does not stop.
✔️ it's the love that does not faints.
That's the love Christ is calling us to, that we will love even to the death, that love will burn every other things, that love will burn charm, that love will burn everything that is more essential, it will burn everything that tries to compete with that Love of Christ in our lives. The Love of Christ is calling us to day,
that love:
✔️ many waters cannot quench that love,
✔️many waters of afflictions cannot quench that love.
✔️many waters of the misunderstanding cannot quench that Love.
✔️many waters of difficulty in ministry cannot quench that Love.
✔️many waters of restrictions in ministry cannot quench that love.
✔️many waters of lock down cannot quench that love.
✔️many waters of what maybe happening in your community cannot quench that love,.
✔️many waters of opposition cannot quench that love.
✔️many waters of persecution cannot quench that love.
✔️ all the floods of persecution and all the floods of enemies cannot dran that love, you cannot bind a man that has first love, you cannot bind him over, you have good quality, you have good talent, you have good gift, you can use it profitably for many areas of the world, you cannot bind first love with that, politics cannot bind love, society cannot buy him over, businesses cannot bind love, invitation to travel here and there can not buy love, money cannot buy love, because he has that purpose forever. This is first love that Christ is calling us to, and He says we should remember that first love and repent, and recommit that first love, that love is immeasurable, we don't merit it, nothing can separate us from that love, although persecution and misunderstanding may come, although discouragement may come, He says in all these, we are more than conquerors and we continue in that love without reservation, the Lord is calling us to that first class love, He's the Bridegroom, and all He wants is to Love Him. While we are doing everything we do, let us do it with the first love, recollect that, remember that first love, remember that first zeal in your soul and recollect that.
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